FEBRUARY 27, 2019
remembrance ni
HMS Jupiter, the WW2 Destroyer F85
NI navy men in Battle of Java SeaThree men from Northern Ireland died in HMS Jupiter on this day in 1942 in the Battle of the Java Sea.
During 1940 and 1941 this destroyer participated in missions in the European theatre of operations, including: Minelayer operations of Dutch coast, shelling of Cherbourg, British raid on Genua.
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On November 29, 1941, the HMS Jupiter and HMS Encounter, detached from the Mediterranean Fleet, joined up with Force G at Colombo, and the five ships sailed later that day. They rendezvoused with HMS Repulse at sea, and set course for Singapore, arriving on December 2.
On January 17, 1942, Jupiter sank a Japanese I-60 submarine.
During the battle of the Java Sea the ship struck a mine and sank shortly afterwards. HMS Jupiter (Lt.Cdr. Norman Vivian Joseph Thompson Thew, RN) was sailing near the northern coast of Java in the beginning of the evening of 27 February, just before the beginning of the final stage of the battle of the Java Sea, when she was struck by a violent explosion in position 06º45'S, 112º06'E. At the time it was thought that she had been torpedoed by Japanese forces. Later it was found that she had struck a mine in a Dutch minefield. There were no Japanese forces in striking distance at the time of the explosion. See On this Day - below. HMS Electra also sunk had earlier save Derry sailor.
In the newspapers - February 27
Belfast Newsletter 1915Armagh Volunteers Leave Belfast.
Three hundred officers and men of the 9th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers (Armagh Volunteers.), who have been stationed in Victoria Barracks for several months, left last yesterday morning on transfer to Newtownards, where they will be quartered in hutments. They were played through Royal Avenue by the 5th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (Royal
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South Downs). All the kits and equipment of the men were taken with them, a long line of transport waggons accompanying the party.
Roll of Honour - February 27
WW2
1942HMS JUPITER
+GRAHAM, ThomasRN. Stoker 1st Class. D/KX 90729. Date of Death: 27/02/1942. Age: 24. HMS Jupiter. Ten year’s service. Son of John and Mary Graham, White St., Belfast; husband to Mary Graham, Annette St., Belfast. (Belfast Weekly Telegraph 14/12/1945). Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 70
+HAGAN, William JamesRN. Able Seaman. D/SSX 29020. Date of Death: 27/02/1942. Age: 21. HMS Jupiter. Posted as missing after the Battle of Java. He had also served in the Battle of Narvik. He joined up in March 1939. His father served in WW1. Son of William James and Alice Jane Hagan, Belfast; husband to Gladys Hagan, Pernau St., Belfast. (Belfast Weekly Telegraph 03/04/1942 and 14/12/1945). Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 65.
+McGUCKIN, JohnRN. Able Seaman. Date of Death: 27/2/1942. Age 28. HMS Jupiter. Son of Mr & Mrs Michael McGuckin, Ballinderry Bridge, Cookstown. Plymouth Naval Memorial, Panel 65.
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Family headstone in Ballinderry Roman Catholic Cemetery. Cookstown WM.
1947
+ROBINSON, William
RAF. Aircraftman 1st Class. 619990. Died 27/02/1947. Aged 41. Son of Jack and Margaret Robinson, of Lurgan; husband to Catherine Elizabeth Robinson, of Lurgan. Lurgantarry (St Colman’s) Roman Catholic Cemetery, County Armagh
On this day - February 271936
The Japanese Army restores order in Tokyo and arrests officers involved in a coup.
1940
Russian forces overrun the second line of Finnish defenses on the Karelian Isthmus.
First group of British volunteers arrive in Finland, under command of Lt. Kermit Roosevelt, son of Teddy.
1941
Vichy France reduces bread ration from 350g to 280g.
British February ’41 civilian casualty figures tally at 789 killed and 1068 injured.
British Commando’s, having been left to hold Castelorizzo without out Naval support or reinforcement, are forced to evacuate when the Italians land troops on the Island.
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1942
Royal Navy Destroyer HMS Electra is sunk by Japanese in the Battle of Java Sea with the loss of 108 sailors. Electra was escorting HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse when they were lost earlier that year and saved 571 men. Amongst them was Thomas Burns from Londonderry who was in HMS Repulse. He recalled, “I swam around and eventually got on board a destroyer called the Electra. They had wire netting all around the side for us to climb up. All I had on was a pair of shorts, nothing else. Everybody else was the same.” He later served at Sea Eagle and was drafted twice to the Far East during the Korean War
Electra wreck has been damaged by metal thieves.
Japanese are only 50 miles north of Rangoon.
The Japanese land on Java in East Indies.
Off Delaware coast, German U-boat U-578 sinks US destroyer Jacob Jones—138/149 killed.
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1943
Nine Norwegian commandos successfully climb down the steep gorge on one side of the German ‘heavy water’ plant at Telemark and work their way up a 500 foot, almost sheer rock face to reach the plant on the other side of the gorge. Undetected, they gain entrance and successfully set and detonate their explosives, ruining the plant. All the commandos escaped safely, without taking or inflicting any casualties.
A group of German wives of Jewish men begin to gather and protest in Berlin in order to try and stop the deportation of their husbands to concentrations camps.
1944
The Arabs protest to the U.S. over Senate statements about the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine.
1945
The US Ninth Army achieves a breakthrough near Erkelenz 30 miles to the West of Cologne, but loses 100 tanks in the process.
The 2nd Belorussian Front captures Neustettin. The Red Army suspends all further offensive operations against the lines of Army Group Courland.
The British Indian 4th Corps take Meiktila airfield in central Burma after an eight-day push from the Irrawaddy.
U.S. Marines take Motoyama on Iwo Jima after a bloody battle.
Corregidor is reported as clear of Japanese troops.Page �6
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US Eighth Army lands unopposed on Palawan in Philippines, takes Puerto Princesa and its airfields.
In the US a midnight curfew is placed on nightclubs, sports arenas, theaters, and bars to conserve coal—restaurants and USO clubs are exempt if alcohol is not served.
1946
The U.S. Army declares that it will use V-2 rocket to test radar as an atomic rocket defence system.
Acknowledgments Belfast NewsletterCWGC
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